The Austrian army was divided into two corps, the one officially commanded by the Emperor, but in reality by Marshal de Lascy, and the other by Marshal Laudon; it included the Lycanians or Croats, and picked grenadier regiments under the Prince de Ligne. His headquarters were at Bezesnow, in Bohemia. His son was in Marshal de Lascy’s corps, occupying a strong position behind the steep banks of the Elbe; three lines of forts defended the passage of the river. Prince Charles was in fact principally occupied with the construction of these forts, and his father constantly wrote to him. The following letters will show the affectionate terms that existed between them. It would appear that Prince Charles was dissatisfied at the manner in which the fortifications were being made, _From my Headquarters at_ BEZESNOW, _26th June 1778_. “Well, my engineer, so you are still fortifying your position, but you are not fortifying your esteem for the genius of our engineers? I have much trouble, on my side, to fortify myself against _ennui_. “The Emperor came here to make what we may well call a fuss. He said he wished for war, but did not believe in it. ‘_Who will take a bet?_’ he said to us the other day. ‘_Everybody_,’ replied Marshal Laudon, who is always in a bad temper. ‘_Everybody means nobody!_’--‘_But I for one will bet_,’ said Marshal Lascy. ‘_How much?_’ said the Emperor, who expected him to propose about twenty ducats. ‘_Two hundred thousand florins_,’ said the Marshal. The Emperor pulled a long face, and felt he had received a public reprimand. “He has been very gracious to me. He is in constant fear lest one should play the pedant by him. He was satisfied with my troops, and said many nice things about you, my dear Charles, for he had seen you work marvellously well. He has just left; I can still see him from my windows. “I laugh at myself and the others when I think that, unappreciated though I be, I value myself so much more than they suppose. I personally superintend every platoon. I make myself hoarse with giving the word of command to six battalions at the same time. “I personally inspect even the very smallest huts, called in Bohemia _kaloups_, each containing only four soldiers, and taste their soup, their bread, weigh their meat, in order to see that they are not cheated. There is not one whom I do not talk to, whom I do not supply with something; not an officer I do not feed, and whom I do not rouse to the war. My comrades do nothing of this kind, and they are very wise, as no one cares. Not one of them cares for the war; they utter the most pacific speeches before the young men, whom they expect in the future to be zealous and good generals. This is also very well. They will be made generals before I shall, and that also will be very well.